Patrick funds went to new aide's firm
Campaign made $50,000 payment
The political consulting firm that Doug Rubin started before signing on last week as Governor Deval Patrick's chief of staff collected a $50,000 payment from Patrick's political committee two days before news of Rubin's hiring broke, according to state records.
A spokesman for the committee said the fee covered the five months that Rubin advised Patrick between the end of the campaign last November and the end of March.
Patrick committee spokesman Stephen Crawford said Rubin was paid for "the stuff that he did so well during the campaign -- help guide the governor's message, including development of the website, the reinstitution of the campaign community meetings, and other services."
Rubin, regarded as the architect of Patrick's campaign, said yesterday: "It was part of the contract to help build out the grassroots component of the governor's committee. That contract ended March 31."
Rubin stepped in last week as the successor to Joan Wallace-Benjamin, who is returning to her Boston nonprofit organization, the Home for Little Wanderers.
While Wallace-Benjamin earned $120,000, Rubin reportedly will make $100,000, a substantial pay cut and significantly less than he could expect to make as one of the state's most highly regarded political consultants.
Asked if the $50,000 check -- which was in addition to the roughly $100,000 Rubin's former employer, the Prime Group, was paid by Patrick's committee during the campaign -- cleared the way for Rubin to accept a lower salary, Crawford declined to comment.
"I do know that throughout his service to the governor's committee, his advice has been highly respected, and he's earned what he's been paid, more than earned what he's been paid," Crawford said.
Said Rubin, "That was for work that I was doing at the time . . . for the committee during those months."
The young firm, named Northwind Strategies, reported no other earnings on the state level, according to the Office of Campaign and Political Finance. Rubin was also advising congressional candidate Niki Tsongas; candidates for federal office do not report to state campaign finance officials.
